Memorial Day activities result in four Iowa deaths

At least four people died in Iowa last weekend while celebrating Memorial Day activities. A 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were among those killed. A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said that they have been so busy responding to calls that there hasn’t been any time to count the tragedies.

Sunny skies with temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s attracted more boaters than usual this Memorial Day weekend. Officials also suspect that Iowans experiencing a cash-crunch in the dwindling economy opted to entertain themselves on the lake instead of taking a more expensive long weekend out of state. The number of boat crashes was higher than normal this year and was the cause of death for two of the four victims. Although there were more boat crash and swimming fatalities this Memorial Day than in previous years, there were fewer motor vehicle collisions. At least 11 people died in vehicle collisions last year, the deadliest Memorial Day weekend in two decades. As of Monday evening, only one of the Memorial Day deaths was attributed to a land vehicle collision.